One must witness the Sarah Palin spectacle in person, because this clearly isn't something you can appreciate by staring at a couple of clips on the 10 o'clock news.
This is the woman New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd called "Napoleon in bunny boots," who MSNBC's Chris Matthews says is an "empty vessel."
The person who introduced Joe Biden the other day called Palin "a bucket of fluff."
Dick Cheney in a dress, that's what they're calling Palin, har-har-har. There are a million of them like that.
On Thursday, the woman who turned a sure-fire Barack Obama election sweep into a nail-chewer came to Iowa. Along with some smiling white-haired guy, name of John McCain.
Yeah, yeah, some of the 4,000 or so Iowans who jammed a Cedar Rapids campaign rally wanted to hear what the Republican presidential candidate had to say about this and that. But don't kid yourself. This was a "see Sarah" crowd.
Carlson seems to pick up on the main reason Palin was picked, i.e. to shore up the connection between the base and John McCain. The stuff about Palin attracting "Hillary voters" was always a bit of a stretch. She may attract some, especially those turned into one issue voters by the sheer cynicism of the Obama campaign, but that isn't the import of the Palin appeal.
Carlson continues:
These people - not Palin - are the ones who have truly flummoxed the political opposition and media. Rubes, these folks are called. Uneducated dopes who can't grasp the fact the governor of Alaska is not qualified - is not fit - to be vice president.
These poor, misguided, uninformed and, scariest of all, likely voters, are reminded eight times a day on the news and in the papers that Palin is no Biden. What don't they get? Some of them actually seem to - horrors - like and respect the Republican nominee for vice president.
I mingled here Thursday and asked why, starting with Linda Clifton of Cedar Rapids, the first person I saw in the parking lot.
"I wasn't excited at all about McCain, and I was ready to leave the Republican Party," said Clifton, 56. "Then he picked Sarah. That did it for me. She's smart, she's successful and is raising a family. She has character. She's me. She's every woman I ever worked with."
Micky Anderson of Bettendorf said she and her husband might have driven to Cedar Rapids for a McCain event. Palin's appearance guaranteed their trip.
"I went wild when he picked Sarah," said the 58-year-old Anderson. "I juggled three kids and work, with my husband's help. She's doing it, and I think she's amazing."
Emily Davis and Katie Lancia of Coralville walked past, each of them holding a small child. Both are stay-at-home moms. Both love Palin.
"Not qualified?" said the 31-year-old Lancia. "I'm amazed when I hear that. She's more qualified than Barack Obama."
"She's exciting," said Davis, 28. "She has such motivation and drive. I love what she stands for."
Jason and Bethany Geiken drove over from Des Moines with their 3-month-old son, Malachi, to have a look at the Republican ticket. The Geikens said they probably would have voted for McCain.
"Grudgingly voted for him," said Jason, 27, who works for an insurance company. "I'm happy to vote for him now. Palin is a reformer and she's from outside the Beltway. She's not one more senator. She made the difference to us."
"She juggles the family and her profession," said Bethany, 24. "She really impresses me."
I'm not sure I see much of Clinton's core constituency in that run down, but I sure do see the types of voters McCain needs to attract/enthuse for a successful election day. For some reason this has driven legions of the press to bouts of apoplexy. (Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either.)
Democrats and the swells in the press keep throwing punches. The average folks, so many of them women, keep cheering. They relate to this mother of five, who diapers a kid with one hand and runs a state with the other.
The critics don't understand the excitement, and it's driving them crazy.
It's why Palin scares the fluff out of every last one of them.
Heh.
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